Starter for explosion-engines.



APPLICATION FILED APR.23, 1914.

Patented Dec. 8. 1914.

witnesses Gttorncgs and operation and easily,quickly and eco- 5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

CHARLES E. MIERCORT, oF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR To THE DENVEEEOED STARTER COMPANY, OF DENVER,P COLORADO, A CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

STARTER FOR EXPLOSION-EN GINES.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES B. a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starters for Explosion-Engines; and I do hereby declare the pertains to make and use the same.

following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as lwill enable others skilled in the art to which 1t ap- This invention relates to starting devices v for explosion engines and has for an object t'o provide a device of that class which shall be simplev and economical of construction nomically attached to or removed from such en `nes.

nother object is to provide a starter wherein the starting lever is not attachedl to the main shaft, and wherein when it is not in use it does not contact with said shaft or any part of the engine. The construction of the .invention embodying this feature therefore requires little or no alteration in the engine itself.

' Another feature ofthe present invention `is the construction and disposition of the guide plates between which the lever moves,

and the mechanism for swinging the lever,

- so that the actuating cablev passes across within the hood on aline nearly horizontal and the starter therefore occupies a minimum of space.A This feature involves mechanism for changing the direction of the pull imparted to said cable.

lVith these and other objects in view my invention comprises certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as vwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and as shown in the accompanying drawing in' which similar charactersof reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in Which Figure I. is a front elevation of my starter in position in an automobile,v showing fragments of the car frame, a cross section ofthe drive shaft ofthe automobile andl the fan belt wh'eel in elevation. Fig. II. is a top plan view of the starter, showing fragments of the car frame. Fig. III. is a view from underneath of the parts 4shown in Fig. II.

My startermay be used on any explosion Specification. of Letters Patent.

MIERCORL,

. along said shaft engine having an exposed drive shaft but is .iprimarily intended for use upon an automo- '.the starter may be installed. Prior to installingmy starter in such a car, I thread the periphery of tll fan belt wheel 1 mounted upon drive shaf 2 and screw thereon an outer rim 3 wider than the rim of the wheel 1 and extending therebeyond as clearly shown at 3 in Fig. II'I. The rim 3 is held in fixed relation to wheel l by any suitable means as pin 4.

The starting mechanism has a frame conslisting. of two guides or plates 5 and 6 secured in spacedl relation to each other as by blcks 7 and 8 with bolts 9 and 10 passing therethrigmsaid frame being secured to the car frame in any suitable manner as by ,brackets 11 and 12 carried by the starter of the car frame as at 15 and I6.

Between the plates 5 and 6 of the starter "frame and bolted to the 'side bars 13 and 14 frame is loosely disposed a. lever 17 having a' hook 18 for slidingly engaging the arcuate inner or guiding edge 19 of guide member 5. The lever 17 is further provided with dogs 20 and 21 positioned respectively within and. without the extension orv flange 3a of the or rim 3, the dog 21 having a sharp edge 22. At its opposite end lever 17 is bifurcated as at 23. Within the bifurcation a link 24 is pivotally mounted as at 25 at one end and at the opposite end is provided with a hole 26 or other suitable means to which the operating cable or wire 27 is attached as by the rope4 clamp illustrated. Adjacent said cla-mp is herein shown a globular or The wire 27 may pass to any convenient' point of Operation but preferably around Patented Dec. 8, 1914. Application led April 23, 1914. Serial N O. 833,964.

\ 17 to move upward.

I tially horizontal, and its tendency is'to spring 30 retracts lever 20 and 21-out of engage and Vdrawing the lever the starting by 'solid lines in Fig.` i.,

It will be videntthata pull upon wire 27 causes the runner 37 to start upward along the track 255,- and the upperend of the link 24: follows it while the lower end' 25) of said link causes The inclination' of the track is such that a substantially or nearly horiz ital pull on the wire or cable 27 is, by mean of this runner and link, converted into substantially or nearly'vertical movement"` of the outer end of the lever;but, as soon as the latter is passed between the members and 6 and has risen about half way to the dotted position shown in Fig. I, the pullv of the wire 27 on `the lever is direct or substantially so. It follows that the movement of the lever is practically the same as it would be if its inner end the shaft 2, but attention is directed to the fact that this lever is in no way connected with said shaft, being loosely mounted between the members 5 and 6. At the inception of the upward movement of the lever,

it,is canted slightly frQma position strictly I yradial to the engineshpjft and the dog j lalnside of extended am en what. taQ//Shargtdge e2 of dog ai Win be forced against the/)outer ide thereof with the result tha /the dog' -wil'l Agrip said eX- tended rim 3?; and ith/at; as lever 17 is pulled by wire 27 o'ver/y to the dotted line position in Fig. I, it will carry the jlrim 31 with it, thus revolving the belt whee 1 and with it the drive shaft 2 and starting the engine.

Tension spring 30 is provided attached at one end to lug 31 on guide member 6 and at the other end to lug 32 on lever 17, which -lug is opposite to and may be integral with the stem of hook 18 as shown at Fig. III. Attention is directed to the -fact thatthe normal disposition of this spring is substandraw the lever longitudinally away from the main shaft 2, on a line radial to the latter. This tendency is resisted by the hook 18 coming into contact with the edge 19 at a time when both dogs are out of engagement with the extended rim 3a, and therefore when the starter is idle no parts thereof are ing. conv tact with the running parts of.A the engine.

f .throwing dogs' ent/ with rjun 3L When Ytension is release from wire27` osition .shown ook 18 holds lever-,117 agains ."Qutward movement thu revenng dog 2Qrfrom'bef ing drawn into engage ing rim 3a`by the pull of spring 3 0 on lever -17 after tension is released from wire 27.

Rest 33 is provided -on arm 34 of guide '55 member 5 and normally dog 20 rests therewere journaled onf overhanging said arcuate as the lever vis swung,

`ing the lever,

ent with therevolw.

on. Also, in .case the engine should kick 1 'drop to solid line position at Fig. II, thus re` leasing the dogs from tlie outer endo "the letferf rim.

a drive shaft comprising a liange rigid with engagement withI the the shaft and extending parallel thereto, a

lever, a projection rigid with the lever' and located upon one side of the iiaige, a second projection rigid witl uthelever and located upon the other side ofthe flange, means to raise the lever to cause the'fprojections to` tliel flange, and

engage the opposite sides of means to liolditlae lever.against movement tlirespctlto the shaft. "'xplosion engines having a drive shafoliplflfi'fga angev rigid with the shaftanf'd'e. tendingv parallel.4 thereto, a lever having a"`*pair of projections rigid therewith, one adapted to engagetheouter side of the flange while the other engages the inner side of the flange, means to raise the lever to cause the projections to engage. the flange, guide means for the lever provided Withan arcuate edge having said shaft as its center, and means rigid with the lever 3. In a starter 'for explosion vengines having a drive shaft and a rim wheel thereon, the'combinatio-n with a lever disconnected from the shaft and wheel and having dogs projecting respectively/inside and outside of the rimof said wheel; of a pair f' guide plates between which' said lever'is loosely disposed, one of the plates havinggan arcuate edge struck around said shaft and an armprovided with a rest adapted to supf port one of said lugs when the leverlies in#- active, a projection from the lever travel-Y ing along said arcuate edge as the lever is swung, means for swinging theA lever, and

yielding means oppgsed' to -said swingingv d projection against v means and drawing `sai said edge, for the purpose setforth. f -H ing a' drive 'shaft and a wheel; thereon, the

combination withl a lever disconnected from;

the shaft vand wheel and having means Vfor gripping the wheel when the lever is canted; O. lever is looselyhaving L '4. In a starter for explosion engines lrs'ivs dge struckaround said drawing said projecll for the purpose set iis las

5. In a starter for explosion engines having a drive shaft and a wheel thereon, the combination with a lever disconnected from the shaft and wheel and having means for gripping the wheel when the lever is canted;

of a pair of guide plates between which said lever is loosely disposed, one of the plates having' an arcuate edge struck around said shaft and means to support the lever when it lies horizontal and inactive, a projection from the lever traveling along said arcuate edge as the lever is swung upward, means for so swinging the lever, and a contractile spring for drawing said lever to inactive position.

6. In a starter for explosion engines having a drive shaft and a rim wheel thereon, the combination with a lever disconnected from the shaft and wheel and having dogs projecting respectively inside and outside of the rim of said wheel; of a guide plate alongside which the lever is loosely disposed, the plate having an arcuate lower edge struck around said shaft and a rest at the lower end of said edge projecting toward the shaft, a hook projecting from the lever and engaging said edge at a time when its dogs are out of contact with said rim wheel and the lever lies substantially horizontal, a spring normally drawing the v lever away from the shaft and wheel and holding the hook in such engagement, and means for raising the outer end of thelcver manually.

7. In a starter for explosion engines having a drive shaft and a wheel thereon, the combination with a lever disconnected from the shaft and wheel and having means to grip said wheel when the lever is canted; of a guide plate alongside which the lever is loosely disposed, the plate having an arcilate lower edge and a track along its upper edge, means projecting from the lever and engaging said arcuate edge, a spring normally drawing the lever away from the sli/ait yand wheel,l a link rising from the outer end of the lever, an operating member connected with the upper end of the link, and a runner on said member traveling on said track, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a starter for explosion engines havwheel and holding the hook in such engagement, the upper ,edge of said plate having J track, a link rising from the outer end of the lever, an operating member connected with the upper end of the link, and a ruimer on said member traveling on said track, for the purpose set forth.

9. In a starter for explosion engines having a drive shaft and a flange rigid with the shaft and parallel thereto, the combination with a lever normally disconnected from the shaft and ange and having means for gripping the flange when the lever is eanted; of a pair of guide plates between which said lever is loosely disposed, one of the plates having a rest adapted to support the lever when it lies inactive, means for swinging the lever and a spring oppod to' said swinging means.

10. In a starter for explosion engines having a drive shaft and a iiange rigid with the shaft and tion with a ever normally disconnected from the shaft and ange and having means for gripping the flange when the lever is canted; of a pair of guide plates between which said lever is loosely disposed, one of the plates having means t0 support the lever when it lies inactive, means for swinging the lever, and a ,contractile spring for drawing said lever to; inactive position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES B. MIERCORT.

Witnesses:

CARLI; WHrrnI-IEAD FRANK D. TAGGART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

arallel thereto, the combina- A 

